My Ex-Boyfriend Gave Birth to My Child? What Does That Mean? - Chapter 27

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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My ex-boyfriend’s child was born to me—what does that even mean? Chapter 27
Whether this hall was the Guild’s Meeting Hall or not, the fact of publicly insulting a noblewoman lay beyond the Guild’s judgment.
An apology could be called an extraordinarily lenient measure. Truly, merely an apology—no gold, no honor required.
But I knew.
I knew how devastating this moment would be for the Oker Countess, who had spent every instant since our first meeting looking down on me with endless contempt.
I had placed both face and profit on her scales in equal measure. Whatever she chose would mean nothing but loss, but she had to choose nonetheless.
The Oker Countess fell silent for a long while. Her mind, honed in the Merchant Realm, could arrive at only one conclusion.
Apologize and it ends.
A tarnished reputation?
Well, I supposed that wasn’t my concern.
After waiting long enough that the tension itself had grown stale, I finally heard her voice.
“Irina Otreha.”
I could almost see it in the air—the humiliation and shame that woman was drowning in right now.
With an expression that screamed she wanted to tear me apart, the Oker Countess spoke.
“I apologize… for my rudeness.”
Rather than answer her grinding, gritted apology, I lifted my hand and pointed toward the entrance of the hall.
“You, who twist the Guild Rules to suit your whims and sought to crush smaller trading companies—you hardly seem to belong in a place like this. Yet I have no authority to drive you out.”
My finger rose slowly, directed at the Oker Countess’s face.
“If you still possess the composure to hold your head high and participate in this meeting with dignity intact, then by all means, remain.”
Having finished, I turned away without hesitation. Siril stood at my back anyway, so whatever rash move that woman might attempt was of no consequence to me.
Behind me came the sound of applause—crisp, clean claps. The gaze of everyone present fixed on the source of that sound.
“Oh, excuse me…”
The person withdrawing his hands with an embarrassed expression was Shand Ordore, the very man I had been speaking with moments before.
“Just felt too good to resist.”
The Oker House was, among all the members of the Grand Merchant Association, the foremost oppressor of smaller merchants.
Perhaps for that reason, the owners of the various large and small trading companies watching us from the sidelines wore expressions not unlike Shand’s own.
The Oker Countess looked ready to cry out that she’d tear us all to pieces, but unable to contain her fury, she stormed toward the exit with her legs trembling.
I’d expected as much. She was a stubborn merchant, but not one with a thick enough face to return to a Regular General Meeting after suffering such humiliation.
Just before the door closed behind her, the Oker Countess’s scorching gaze found me one last time.
I bowed my head slightly to her and smiled.
Go on, then.
With a thud, the door to the outside closed, and the murmuring subsided. A face I hadn’t seen before ascended the central platform.
“Ahem… I shall now commence the Regular General Meeting.”
* * *
As I’d anticipated, there was no mention of the fabric shortage.
Since cloth and grain were classified as necessities, a shortage would inevitably be brought before the general meeting—and yet it was not.
Instead, what I heard was this:
“I’ve heard the Grand Merchant Association has been purchasing fabric in large quantities. Is there some trouble at the border?”
“Probing into another merchant’s business affairs violates the Guild’s general meeting protocols!”
“How is that probing another merchant’s business? Major incidents like war naturally should be brought before the Guild’s meeting, shouldn’t they?!”
“War? There’s news of war?”
“There’s been no change in grain movements. Don’t spread baseless rumors!”
“Please, please! If you continue this uproar, I’ll revoke your right to attend the next general meeting!”
The Regular General Meeting had descended into utter chaos. As it was a meeting without formal agenda items, where anyone could take the speaking platform, such disorder was all but inevitable.
After skillfully placating the quarreling merchants—who jabbed fingers at one another while ignoring the true subject—I watched a familiar face ascend the platform.
“I wish to purchase Glass Crafts if any of you plan to distribute them this quarter. For detailed terms, anyone interested may visit the Ordore Trading Company branch on the Guild Building 3rd Floor, and we will gladly receive you. We prioritize quantity over quality, but quality too poor is problematic, so please bring Workshop samples—that will aid our negotiations.”
Shand Ordore concluded his remarks cleanly and descended from the platform. After observing several more merchants who subsequently took to the stage, I at last went to collect a number token.
I felt no particular emotion. Though this was my first time taking the platform in this lifetime, in my previous life I had been the lady of a major merchant house with speaking rights at executive assemblies.
“And next… the proprietor of Argent Tower Trading Company, Irina Otreha!”
When my name was called, the commotion around the hall quieted somewhat.
The recent friction with the Oker Countess had likely made a far greater impression than any modest reputation I’d gained in the Merchant Realm.
‘They may have found it satisfying, but crushing traditional power under heel probably didn’t look quite as noble as they’d have liked to imagine.’
Whether these people would truly acknowledge me would depend on my abilities. I climbed onto the platform.
“I’ve come before you today…”
I had not come to procure materials.
“…to designate Retail Outlets for the Milky Way Silk that we have sold exclusively from our Workshop until now.”
What I needed to hunt was not money, but renown and rights in the Merchant Realm.
* * *
I waited for the hall to fall quiet again after its moment of confusion, then I spoke.
“However, I must inform you beforehand that conducting business with several of the trading companies that have recently been purchasing fabric in large quantities will be difficult.”
A well-dressed merchant stepped forward to counter my words.
“That’s an obstruction of fair competition!”
“Is it? Well, if the Oker House and Bestin Trading Company were willing to pay premium prices to acquire fabrics that were already designated to come from our workshop, that suggests they had an urgent need. Surely I’m simply being considerate in understanding their situation?”
I fixed the man with a steady gaze as I spoke.
“Unless, of course, you’re suggesting they did so merely to sabotage production of the Milky Way Silk—in which case that would constitute a far more explicit violation of Guild Rules.”
The finely dressed man stroked his beard thoughtfully. He appeared to be a representative of the Grand Merchant Association, though he seemed not to be directly representing the Oker House or Bestin Trading Company.
Meanwhile, murmurs rippled through the smaller merchant house operators around the hall.
“She’s… designating retail outlets?”
“So we won’t be able to sell it?”
I surveyed the room from the platform and added my words.
“Any merchant house with the proper qualifications will have an equal opportunity.”
A brief silence fell.
“What are the conditions?”
“What’s the price?”
“How much of it?”
I smiled as questions flooded in.
“The conditions are simple. As we’ve just discussed, our workshop is currently facing a shortage in the supply of textile raw materials. The major trading companies are monopolizing the fabrics, so there’s nothing to be done about it.”
I continued speaking into the murmurs.
​”Therefore, I intend to grant exclusive retail rights to two trading companies capable of supplying raw materials. In return, those companies will be responsible for procuring colored fabrics to the standard our workshop requires. Any company with the capability is welcome.”
A brief exclamation and silence passed in an instant.
“If we’re going to manage retail distribution, production must increase—but the quality and price won’t suffer, will they?”
“A shrewd observation. That’s precisely why we’re limiting the retail outlets. Everything is to ensure more rigorous product control.”
I struck the platform with a sharp tap and raised my voice with confidence.
“The decision will be made before we leave this hall. I’d rather not have rumors spreading and unwelcome interference spoiling matters.”
Someone rose from their seat.
As if that were a signal, chairs scraped against the floor as two, then three merchants stood, the sounds erupting throughout the room.
​The eyes that had regarded me as mere spectacle moments before now glowed with the hunger of prospective business partners.
​”Argent Tower Trading Company’s proprietor! Our fabrics are the finest! If you prepare a contract draft right now——”
​Questions poured forth, but I didn’t answer. Instead, I descended from the platform with unhurried grace and signaled Siril with my eyes.
The net that the Oker House had cast was finally about to be swept into the trash heap along with the fabrics they’d monopolized.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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